Oct. 10, 2006

Contact: Alan Ashby

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Upcoming Matches:
Match #19
Oct. 13 at Youngstown State 7:00 p.m. EDT
Beeghly Center -- Youngstown, Ohio

Quick Sets: Friday's match at Youngstown State (Oct. 13) finally closes out Cleveland State's run of 16 out of 19 contests on the road to begin the season. At 13-5 overall and 3-3 in the Horizon League, the Vikings round out the first half of the conference slate just a game out of fourth place -- with all three of their losses coming against the top three teams in the league standings.

Hot Start: At 13-5, the Vikings are off to their best start since the 2002 squad opened with an identical record. In addition, Cleveland State's recent nine-match winning streak was the longest since the 2002 team won 10 in a row.

This Week's Opponent: The Penguins are Cleveland State's most frequently played opponent, with the Vikings holding a 37-13 advantage in the series, including 10 consecutive wins dating back to 2001.

Recapping Last Week: Cleveland State split at pair of Horizon League matches on the road. Here's a brief recap of the two contests:
Match #17: CSU def. Butler, 30-23, 30-20, 30-25 (Oct., 6, Indianapolis, Ind.)
The Vikings rarely trailed in the match, out-hitting the Bulldogs .256 to .125, including a .600 effort (21-3-30) in the second game. CSU also enjoyed a 53 to 41 advantage in digs. Beth Greulich matched her career-high with 14 kills on .423 hitting, while sophomore Jenni Ramminger notched a career-best 13 kills on .550 hitting with four blocks.
Match #18: Wright State def. CSU, 30-26, 30-26, 30-29 (Oct. 7, Fairborn, Ohio)
The Vikings had five more kills than WSU, but the Raiders held large advantages in both hitting percentage (.207 to .134) and blocks (11 to 3) as they ended a five-match regular season losing streak against CSU. Liz Fazio led the Vikings with 14 kills and 11 digs, while Alexis Korovich added 10 kills and 12 digs.

Vikings End Hinkle Jinx: With its sweep of Butler on Friday (Oct. 6), Cleveland State put an emphatic end to a 12-match losing streak on the Hinkle Fieldhouse court. Prior to the match, the Vikings had beaten the Bulldogs just four times, and never in Indianapolis.

Stop Her If You Can: Now more than halfway through her freshman season, opposite Beth Greulich continues to struggle to adjust to the college game (wink, wink). All the Troy, Ohio native has done is rank 13th in the nation (as of Oct. 2) while leading the Horizon League with a .410 hitting percentage. Greulich had one of her best weeks of the season, hitting .477 (26-5-44) against Loyola and UIC on Sept. 29-30. She was particularly outstanding against the Ramblers, ripping a then career-high 12 kills on .647 hitting. Greulich then went out the next afternoon and established a new career-best with 14 kills versus the Flames.

Get Out The Brooms: Cleveland State's whitewashing of Butler on Friday (Oct. 6) marked the 11th sweep for the Vikings this season. CSU, which recorded 12 sweeps in 2005, did not lose a game from Sept. 9-22, blanking five straight opponents -- tying the 1982 squad's school record for consecutive three-game sweeps.

Who Brought The Name Tags?: For about half of the fourth game against UIC on Oct. 7, the Vikings featured five freshmen on the court. Liz Fazio and Alexis Korovich were at outside hitter, Courtney Ripley was at opposite, which slid Beth Greulich to middle hitter and Maggie Bonomini was in the back row for defensive purposes. That left sophomore libero Jordan Bateman as the "veteran" on the court.

Ace, Ace Baby: Cleveland State has ripped 29 aces in the last four matches, to move up to fourth in the Horizon League rankings (1.74 pg). Junior setter Mel Snyder is second in the league at .40 apg, while junior middle hitter Jenni Ramminger -- who has 10 aces in the last four contests -- is fourth at 0.39.

Can You Dig Her?: Sophomore libero Jordan Bateman has spearheaded the Vikings' back row efforts this season, leading the team and ranking third in the Horizon League with a 4.48 digs per game average -- upping that mark to 5.17 in league play. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but three matches this year, including four with 20 or more, en route to earning the league's defensive player of the week honor twice (Sept. 18 & Oct. 2).

Block Party: Middle hitter Danielle Siefker enters this week with 493 career total blocks -- 66 shy of becoming the school's all-time leader. A first team All-Horizon League selection in 2005, she has averaged 142 blocks in each of her first three seasons and trails only All-American Jamie Bouyer (558) in Cleveland State annals.

QB Returns: Junior setter Mel Snyder has picked up from where she left off last season. Heading into this week, she leads the Horizon League in assists (12.23) and is second in aces (0.40), while ranking fourth on the school's career list with 2,138 helpers. The Amherst, Ohio native handed out 1,302 assists last year in her first full season directing CSU's offense -- the second-best total in CSU annals -- in addition to leading the Vikings to a school-record .239 hitting percentage.

Keep Setting Them: Cleveland State ranks second in the Horizon League in hitting percentage at .239, thanks largely in part to the performance of three players who are ranked among the league's best hitters. The aforementioned Greulich is joined by sophomore middle Jenni Ramminger (.323) and senior middle hitter Danielle Siefker (.286), who rank second and ninth in hitting percentage, respectively.

Fab Freshmen: A trio of CSU freshmen have acquitted themselves very nicely over their first month of collegiate action. After 18 matches, Liz Fazio paces the league in kills (3.74) and is third on the squad in digs (2.40), Beth Greulich leads the league in hitting percentage (.410) and is third on the team in blocks (0.81) and Alexis Korovich is fourth in the league in kills (3.35) and second on the squad in digs (2.79).

Double Trouble: With eight double-doubles on the season, freshman outside hitter Alexis Korovich has nearly half of the team's 17 total double-doubles. The Geneva, Ohio native posted three consecutive double-doubles at the Oakland Courtyard by Marriott Invitational (Sept. 8-9) -- including a career-high 24 kill, 17 dig effort against Bowling Green -- en route to earning MVP honors.

Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his seventh year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 102-93 (.523) mark and a 135-129 (.511) overall record in nine seasons. He picked up his 100th win at CSU on Sept. 22 at UW-Green Bay and has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, eight first team all-league picks, five all-newcomer team members and the 2002 and 2005 Co-Newcomers of the Year. In 2002, Voss guided the Vikings to their first winning season since 1983 and the 19 victories in 2005 are the most since the 1988 team won 20 contests. In addition, the 11 league wins last year were a school record.

Road Warriors: While the Sept. 16 win over Robert Morris was a welcome break from a season-opening 11-match road swing, Cleveland State's current three-match league road trip means the Vikings will take to the Woodling Gymnasium court just three times in their first 19 matches. The travel schedule makes CSU's 13-5 start that much more impressive.

If They Were A Country, They'd Be Switzerland: CSU's perfect 6-0 mark on neutral courts this season is indicative of how the Vikings have fared outside of the league in recent years. CSU is a solid 50-19 (.725) in non-conference play over the past five seasons, including a 19-6 (.760) mark in Woodling Gymnasium.

Vikings Keep Streak Alive: CSU extended its streak to five consecutive years with an early season tourney title after posting a spotless mark at the UNC Asheville Volleyball Classic (Sept. 1-2). For good measure, the Vikings then went out and duplicated the feat by claiming the Oakland Invitational the next week. Mel Snyder was the MVP in Asheville, while Alexis Korovich earned MVP honors in Rochester. Liz Fazio was the only Viking to be named to each of the three all-tournament teams.

Vikings' Run Of Success Continues: Cleveland State's quick start this year has the Vikings on track to extend their streak of four consecutive winning seasons, the second-longest run in school history. The skein trails only the seven straight winning campaigns from 1972-78.

Weekend Warriors: In a bit of a scheduling oddity, Cleveland State's match on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Bowling Green was the only time this year that the Vikings will not play on a Friday or Saturday. So far this year, CSU is a perfect 7-0 on Fridays.

CSU Successful In Classroom As Well: CSU was one of 54 Division I schools to garner the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award, which was released on Aug. 2. The Vikings put together a 3.42 GPA for the 2005-06 academic year in addition to finishing second in the Horizon League with a school-record 11 league victories. The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a cumulative 3.30 GPA during the school year. At the Division I level, 311 schools sponsor women's volleyball.

Up Next: Cleveland State plays five of its final seven matches at home, beginning with a pair of Horizon League contests next week. The Vikings will host UW-Milwaukee on Friday (Oct. 20) at 7:00 p.m. on Catholic Youth Organization night, followed by a 4:00 p.m. match with UW-Green Bay on Saturday (Oct. 21).